A Hero's Journey Through Science Fiction

The (10) Best Episodes of Futurama

As the remaining 13 episodes of this stellar animation series debuts Wednesday at 10 pm on Comedy Central, I would be remiss if I didn’t bring back to your attention 2011’s phenomenal list of The 10 Best Futurama Episodes from one of my fave-rave sites, io9.

“There was no way I could put together a list of the ten best Futurama episodes without a Zapp Brannigan episode, and this might just represent the space captain described as “40% Kirk, 60% Shatner” at his psychotic best. Fry and Bender join the army to get a 5% discount on ham-flavored gum, which turns out to be a very bad move when Earth immediately declares war on Spheron I. Zapp proudly declares the planet is devoid of any natural resources or strategic value and that they know absolutely nothing about who they will be fighting, but the enemy did tell him that we look like dorks. While Fry struggles with his cowardice, Zapp is forced to confront his apparent attraction to macho new recruit Lee Lemon, who may or may not be a barely disguised Leela (of course it is). The episode also features tons of great riffs on the episode’s obvious inspiration Starship Troopers, a brilliantM*A*S*H parody complete with robotic Alan Alda, Fry being forced to serve as assistant to a surprisingly tyrannical Kif, the list of Bender’s ten favorite words, the world’s most epic collection of ball-related double entendres, and the one thing all the kids were clamoring for: a Henry Kissinger cameo.”